Future

After getting the nine soul pearls, Akasha didn’t return to Akashic Palace, but traveled the Infernal Realm with his destruction-type Sovereign clone. While enjoying the sights of the Infernal Realm, he unconsciously found himself walking the streets of Fiendking City, something he had done for trillions of years.

Compared to the past, Fiendking City had changed too much. It had become a haven for deities disgruntled by Sovereigns. Those who lived in the city were super experts at the asura-level, just one step away from becoming a Paragon. In these people’s views, Sovereigns were just lucky fellows born near the creation of the universe and lucky enough to pick up a Sovereign spark.

Sovereigns like Akasha knew about this place, but they didn’t care. What can mere deities do, even if gathered like this? As long as the residents of Fiendking City didn’t besmirch the majesty of Sovereigns, they would be too lazy to bother with them.

Akasha sighed as he walked the streets of the city. Walking here reminded him of the terrifying potential of soul mutates. He would know, and so did all the other Sovereigns. That’s why everyone unanimously decided to kill any future soul mutate that became a Sovereign.

The current Akasha no longer minded, and Orloff probably had the same idea. In fact, the latter might even anticipate the birth of a weaker fusion Sovereign. The same could not be said for those without confidence in their strength, especially the Lesser Sovereigns. They were the easiest target for fusion Sovereigns, after all.

Akasha could still remember the chaos after the Fiend King became a Sovereign. Many Sovereigns fell because of that event.

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Past

Upon seeing the fiery sky of the Infernal Realm, the Fiend King's expression sunk. He had already dispatched his subordinates to search for fire-type Sovereign sparks. Naturally, he made sure all the highgods dispatched didn’t have any fire-type divine clones. He himself knew the allure of power. Despite looking down on the Sovereigns, he also greatly desired a Sovereign spark.

Now that a Sovereign of Fire appeared, it meant that chances of the Fiend King grabbing a fire-type Sovereign spark had dramatically decreased.

“Fiend King, I have some business, so I’m going to leave now.” Akasha didn’t wait for the Fiend King’s answer and disappeared.

The Fiend King wasn’t the only one searching for the elemental Sovereign sparks. Akasha and the other Sovereigns were too. Most of the Sovereigns of Destruction didn’t have any other divine clones, and might even have chosen to fuse with their divine spark when they became demigods, but that didn’t stop them.

Even if they couldn’t use it, what about their subordinates? Of course, if their subordinate became a higher ranking Sovereign, the situation would become reversed.

Akasha wasn’t worried about such a situation. He was already a High Sovereign of Destruction. If his former subordinates became disobedient and fused with the Sovereign spark, kill them and grab the Sovereign spark.

It didn’t take long for Akasha to discover where the new Sovereign was born. Deities couldn’t sense Sovereigns, but fellow Sovereigns could. It wasn’t just Akasha searching, but the other Sovereigns of Destruction, too. The moment they discovered the new Sovereign, he also sensed them.

Since the only difference between Sovereigns was the amount of will inside the Sovereign spark, no Sovereign can sense another without alerting them. Unless that Sovereign was a soul mutate with two or more Sovereign clones.

Akasha appeared in front of the new Sovereign of fire, a divine beast that resembled a hedgehog tens of meters long. Upon seeing him appear out of nowhere, the quills stiffened and glowed like spikes of cooled lava.

“Don’t worry, I’m just curious. What’s your name?” Akasha asked.

The new Sovereign of Fire hesitated for a moment, but he still answered. “My name is Borte.”

‘Borte, isn’t that the unlucky Sovereign whose Sovereign spark Linley refined? Strange, I don’t remember him being so timid. If he was so timid, how did he get a Sovereign spark?’ According to his understanding, there should be hundreds of highgods competing for Sovereign sparks, and only those with strength and courage could get it. In addition, newborn Sovereigns should be arrogant. Who wouldn’t after gaining so much power at once? Still, if this Borte was really the one mentioned in the novel, how did he become so arrogant?

“My lord?” Borte tentatively called out.

“Why are you calling me lord? Shouldn’t you know how much power you gained after refining the Sovereign spark?” Akasha asked.

“I’ve just refined the Sovereign spark, how could I compare to a longtime Sovereign like my lord?”

“Oh.” Akasha raised an eyebrow. “Although the thought process isn’t wrong, you aren’t exactly right.”

Before Borte could ask for clarification, Akasha disappeared. His face sank. He had wanted to inquire about the situation between Sovereigns. However, he would get his wish as the other Sovereigns contacted him soon after Akasha left.

From their conversation, he learned that there was ranking among Sovereign sparks. Akasha didn’t inform the Sovereigns of Destruction of the difference between Sovereign sparks, but after so many years, they gradually discovered it by themselves.

Anticipation flashed in Borte’s eyes. He hoped that he had refined the High Sovereign Spark of Fire, but he was destined to be disappointed.

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Akasha returned to Arcadia and continued to comprehend the Edict of Destruction. Borte’s birth placed great pressure on him. Not because of himself, but the significance of his birth. It meant that the other elemental Sovereigns would soon appear in the universe.

He had the confidence to stand at the peak when the other Sovereigns appeared. But what about facing against multiple High Sovereigns? Unless he became a Paragon, Akasha didn’t have the confidence to accomplish this yet. His comprehension of the Edict of Destruction had reached the last step, but that step was an uncrossable moat that stumped him.

In the end, Akasha could only pin his hope on gathering more faith energy. Becoming a Paragon was just a matter of time in his eyes. The only question was when. Of course, the sooner the better. Under his orders, a new batch of highgods was dispatched to the material realms. The number of material realms wasn’t static, and new ones would appear once in a while.

The older the material plane, the more common life would be, making it easier to raise believes. On the flip side, divine beasts and other powerful races would have a much lower chance of being born. However, at his level, Akasha no longer cared. He only cared about divine beasts of the destruction and light attribute, and they had to be supreme beasts like the Sable Leviathan.

‘Hmm, if I cultivate another divine clone, would I be able to devour divine beasts of those attributes?’ Akasha thought. He had some insight into the Edict of Life, but far from enough to become a demigod. He originally thought he would dabble in when he had spare time, but it seemed its priority had to be increased.

In the subsequent years, more and more Sovereigns were born. The attributes of the Sovereigns were all mismatched. A Sovereign of Water appeared here, two Sovereigns Light appeared there, another Sovereign of Darkness appeared there, and so on. In total, thirteen additional Sovereigns were born in the Infernal Realm.

Among the Sovereigns present, only the Destruction Sovereigns had all seven present in the Infernal Realm. According to Akasha’s guess, two High Sovereigns should be among the twenty Sovereigns of the Infernal Realm.

Akasha noticed immediately when the Four Divine Beasts became Sovereigns. Contrary to his expectations, they only protected the Skyrite Mountains. Because they only protected a small territory, most of the Sovereigns ignored them.

The Infernal Realm entered a time of chaos with the birth of the new Sovereigns. The new batch of Sovereigns fought against the old timer for territory and establishing their prestige. However, things did not turn out their way. Thanks to Akasha’s interference, the Destruction Sovereign had higher attainments in their chosen field than the newborn Sovereigns. Although they couldn’t close the gap between Will, their mastery of the Edict of Destruction allowed them to fight higher ranking Sovereigns. This situation would not last forever, but for now, this was enough.

Akasha thought that one of the new High Sovereigns would eventually find trouble with him in the Chaotic Sea, giving him the chance to kill the chicken and scare the monkeys, but a situation forced his hand. The Sovereigns’ battle brought great destruction to the continent of the Infernal Realm, sinking the center and splitting it into five. If the battle continued, the continent would vanish.

“Enough! From now on, Sovereigns are only allowed to battle in the chaotic space outside the Infernal Realm,” Akasha said upon entering the battlefield.

All nineteen Sovereigns turned their gaze toward him. The eyes of the six Sovereigns of Destruction lit up. Among them, the most powerful and unfathomable Sovereign they knew was Akasha. Only he could fight all six of them and gain the upper hand. Of course, this was millions of years ago, and everyone of them approved, but that didn’t stop their view of Akasha.

The new batch of Sovereigns also stared at Akasha. Some stared with curiosity, others with hostility, and many other emotions the target didn’t care to decipher. They knew about this Sovereign that never appeared. He was the High Sovereign of Destruction.

Two of the Sovereigns continued to star at Akasha, while eight resumed fighting. Because of the birth of the new Sovereign, several cliques had formed. The Destructions sovereigns formed one, while the two High Sovereigns formed theirs. The Four Divine Beasts didn’t join any and seemed content to watch on the sidelines.

Akasha frowned. He raised his hand and wanted to expel them into the chaotic space. Before he could, one of the two High Sovereigns appeared in front of Akasha in a flash of light.

“Hmpf, just because you got your Sovereign spark a little earlier, it doesn’t give you the right to order me around!” The speaker was a towering figure over five hundred meters tall. He had another face on the back of his head and two pairs of arms. From the transmission of the Sovereigns of Destruction, Akasha knew he was Magec, the High Sovereign of Light.

A burning desire aroused in Akasha’s heart. If he could kill Magec and grab his Sovereign spark…

Akasha didn’t waste any time and charged at Magec. Magec snorted and unleashed a barrage of punches with his four fists. However, Akasha just charged through punches and landed a punch of his own, sending him into the chaotic space.

The event happened in an instant, causing the other Sovereign's to halt their battles in shock. For a moment, everyone looked at each other, unsure of what to do. It wasn’t until Pazuzu, the High Sovereign of Wind, followed into the chaotic space that the other Sovereigns followed suit.

Once they appeared in the chaotic space, they saw Akasha beating Magec like a rag doll with no way to fight back. They couldn’t help but swallow their saliva upon seeing this. At most, they thought Akasha would be a little stronger than Magec, not this much stronger. The Sovereigns who ignored Akasha’s words couldn’t help but looking at their leaders.

Those that followed Pazuzu sighed in relief since he didn’t fight Akasha. As for those that followed Magec, they could only hope that Akasha wouldn’t kill them out of anger.

“Stop, stop! I won’t fight you anymore, alright?!” Magec shouted as he desperately attempted to weather Akasha’s blows.

Akasha snorted. “Weren’t you very mighty before? Where’d your bravado go?”

He raised a hand up and formed a blade of destruction before slashing down. Magec felt the greatest crisis since his birth and his body exuded a blinding light, and he managed to twist his body fast enough to avoid getting instantly killed. However, Akasha’s attack split his body in half from the torso, making him lose the lower half of his body and two arms.

The blinding light didn’t stop. It only got larger, but dulled. When the light became inseparable from the surroundings, Magec had completely vanished. Despite Akasha’s best efforts, he couldn’t sense the latter at all. Undeterred, Akasha slammed his hands together, causing waves of destruction to explode from him.

Those Sovereigns unlucky enough to near him all spat out a mouthful of blood. Even Pazuzu, the one closest to the battle, backed away in fright with a pale face.

Seeing no reaction, Akasha snorted and stop. “I’ll let you go this time.”

Akasha waved his hand. Destruction-type Sovereign power flowed from it and brought the severed parts of Magec to Akasha. He turned toward the crowd of Sovereigns. Upon spotting the Lesser Sovereign of Light, two sword-shaped ripples shot from his eyes.

“Forgi—!” The Lesser Sovereign of Light didn’t have time to finish as the ripples reached him, extinguishing his soul.

Before Akasha had time to collect the Lesser Sovereign Spark of Light or corpse, a chaotic energy stream erupted, carrying the two away. Akasha’s faces darkened, causing the tension to rise. He snorted. “Let this be a lesson. From how on, fights between Sovereigns will only occur in chaotic space!”

The Sovereigns, even Pazuzu, agreed without delay. Akasha snorted. He started to fly back into the Infernal Realm, but before he could, a foreign Sovereign suddenly exited and attacked an Intermediate Sovereign of Darkness.